A family of barn owls nesting in Manhattan has drawn nightly crowds to the Upper West Side, after the birds took up residence in a water tower on a building near Central Park.
The sighting is believed to be the first documented instance of barn owls nesting in Manhattan in modern history, according to Andrew Farnsworth, a migration ecologist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
“It was, like, totally shocking,” Mr Farnsworth said. “To the best of our knowledge, like the collective birding knowledge, there hasn’t been a nest in, you know, in Manhattan, at least in recorded history.”
News of the birds spread last week after Upper West Side resident Elisabeth Williams told a local news outlet that she and her husband had seen several owls at the water tower on West 75th Street, close to Central Park West.
The couple had first noticed a single owl on an apartment windowsill several days earlier. They later realised that the birds were part of a family living above them.
“In a place like Manhattan, you normally really have to go out of your way to encounter nature,” Ms Williams said. “And here it was, just sort of right outside our window.”
Barn owls are rarely seen in New York City
David Barrett, a Manhattan-based birder who runs the Manhattan Bird Alert social media account, said he had seen at least one adult owl and five fledglings at the water tower. He had also watched an adult carrying rodents back to the nest.
There are believed to be two adult owls. Some photographers have claimed to have seen six fledglings, Mr Barrett said.
“Having one barn owl is a rarity, but it’s not national news. Having a family, for the first time ever, breeding in Manhattan in recorded history, that’s special news,” he said.
Photographers and casual onlookers have gathered in the street at night in the hope of seeing the birds emerge. Val Coleman, a retired New York City resident who was trying to spot them earlier this week, said he had only previously seen one barn owl, in California.
“At dusk, we hope they will come out to hunt. We hope they don’t eat poisoned rats with rodenticide in ’em,” he said.
Jessica Wilson, executive director of NYC Bird Alliance, said the owls had attracted both experienced birdwatchers and people who had never followed birds before.
“They’re magical, they’re nocturnal, they are secretive, they’re not commonly seen, especially on the Upper West Side of Manhattan,” she said. “And to have this chance to see these birds is really thrilling.”
Barn owl sightings in New York City parks are very rare, according to the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation. The state Department of Environmental Conservation has said the species’ population has declined “at an alarming rate” and that New York lies at the northern fringe of its range.
The city has previously become captivated by individual birds, including the American woodcocks that stop at Bryant Park during their spring migration. Flaco, a Eurasian eagle-owl that flew around Manhattan after escaping from a zoo enclosure, drew mourners after his death in 2024, while Pale Male, a red-tailed hawk, nested above Fifth Avenue for three decades before dying in 2023.
Residents mistook owls’ calls for a child in distress
The barn owls had been making themselves heard before they were seen. Ms Williams and her husband began hearing intermittent screeching outside in early September, although they were sceptical when a phone app identified the sound as a barn owl.
Thomas Obersteiner said he first heard bizarre screeching and wailing noises one evening in mid-September. The sound, he said, was like someone being “murdered outside”.
“That lasted for two or three weeks, every night, sometimes more, sometimes less, coming from different directions,” he said. “But I had no idea what that was.”
On several occasions, Mr Obersteiner or his wife ran into their children’s bedroom after mistaking the calls for a child in pain. He only understood their source after seeing a news report about the owls.
Mr Farnsworth said the screech was typical of barn owls, which use it to communicate with one another. He described it as a “horror movie kind of experience”.
Mr Obersteiner, whose roof deck has become a popular vantage point, has allowed nature photographers to watch the birds from there on most nights since news of the nesting site spread. About 20 people gathered on one evening last week.
“We can’t say no because it’s so much fun and these people are so serious,” he said. “It’s beautiful.”
Ms Williams and her husband had not considered themselves birdwatchers before the owls appeared. “I think we’re about to become birders,” she said.
